Two Venezuelan individuals, Alfredo Alejandro Ajorna, 26, and Julio Cesar Sosascelis, 24, who were accused of assaulting ICE agents amid chaotic events in Minneapolis last month, have been ordered to be released by a federal judge. However, they were promptly re-arrested by ICE, as reported in court records.
The judge assessed that the two men did not represent a significant flight risk and issued the release order. Despite this, shortly after the hearing, ICE took them back into custody before they could leave the courthouse. Their lawyers claimed that ICE provided no clear reasons for the detention right after the judge’s order, leading to a habeas corpus petition being filed on Tuesday. A court subsequently instructed ICE not to remove the men from Minnesota and required the federal government to justify its actions by Friday.
In a related incident on January 14, ICE officers attempted a traffic stop which escalated into a confrontation. Sosascelis reportedly fled in a vehicle, collided with a parked car, and then attempted to evade capture on foot. As officers pursued him, he allegedly resisted arrest, becoming violent. During the struggle, two others emerged from a nearby apartment and began attacking the officers with snow shovels and broom handles. In the chaos, Sosascelis struck an officer, prompting the agent to fire a defensive shot, hitting Sosascelis in the leg. Despite injuries, Sosascelis and two accomplices managed to escape into an apartment and barricade themselves.
The incident has been described by the DHS as an “attempted murder against federal law enforcement,” noting that the officer was attacked before the shot was fired. Three Venezuelans, including Sosascelis, Ajorna, and a third named Gabriel Alejandro Hernández-Ledesma, have been publicly identified as suspects. However, there were no charges against Hernández-Ledesma as of the latest updates, and he’s currently detained in a Texas facility.
Defense attorneys raised concerns regarding the evidence, pointing to photos and witness accounts that question the exact timing and circumstances under which the shots were fired, suggesting that they may have occurred after the suspects entered the apartment.
